U.S. soldier gets hero's welcome, another to be laid to rest

Two U.S. soldiers from the Chicago area came home from Afghanistan this weekend.

One returned to a parade, but the family of a Marine the other soldier went through the painful process of receiving his casket at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

Marine Cpl. Christopher J. Boyd, 22, of Palatine, died while supporting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, according to a release from the Department of Defense. Boyd, a 2005 graduate of Palatine High School, was married with two children, according to neighbor Laura Bode.

Boyd's parents, Patricia and Kenneth Boyd went to Dover Air Force Base to retrieve his body on Friday, Bode said. The Boyds did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Spc. Steffan Bublitz of south Elgin received a hero's welcome Saturday. The Warriors Watch riders held a parade in honor of Bublitz, who spent much of the past year training the Afghan army.

Lisa Michaels-Genslinger said her son was surprised by the impromptu rally outside his house.

"I'm not a hero, the guys who don't come back are the ones who are heroes," she said Bublitz said.

Since Bublitz has been home, he's been fishing with his father, slept in, gone riding on his Yamaha R6 motorcycle with his brothers and attended a Cubs game on Sunday. Bublitz will

have another week at home before he returns to his base in Fort Bragg, N.C.

Bublitz, who serves on the Army's global response unit, enlisted in July 2008, his mother said. Just before his most recent deployment to Afghanistan he spent two weeks in Haiti, helping out during the aftermath of the earthquake.

Four of her five children have served, one of whom was stationed in Iraq. "For me, it's become a rite of passage," Michaels-Genslinger said of her children joining the military.

She wasn't able to make it to the Army base when Bublitz arrived back to the U.S. But she wanted to ensure he understood how much his service is appreciated, so she reached out to the riders to see if they could host a parade.

"We felt richly blessed. We were honored to have them here," she said. "He said it's so wonderful to see the vets here and to know they understand what today's Army is doing."

About 40 people, most of them on Harleys, took part in the parade, said Archie Parsons, who organized the group. The riders gave Bublitz several gifts, including honor beads.

"This is a family (who have) really given to this country and deserve a huge thank you," Parsons said.

Michaels-Genslinger said she knows the stress parents feel while their children serve overseas. She refers to her first son's deployment as "the year I never slept."

"You just pace the house," she said, adding that families who lost love ones, such as the Boyds, were on her mind this weekend.

Boyd died on Thursday. He was assigned to Camp Pendleton, Calif.

His neighbor, Laura Bode, said she watched Boyd grow up and frequently saw him playing catch with his father in the front yard. As a child, Boyd always talked about wanting to be a Navy Seal, Bode said. So his family and neighbors were surprised when he joined the Marines.

"He prepared his life to go into service," said Bode, 70. "He was fun to be with, but he was also a serious young man. He was the kind of young man any parent would be proud of."